The Honourable Peter A. Stollery, Deputy Chair, Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, representing the senatorial division of Yonge and Bloor, Toronto. Not coincidentally, the location of his family’s famous clothing store, of which I was once an avid patron. Having read up on his latest nonsense, I do not think I shall be buying any more shirts or suits from that establishment. The man is also a former MP, serving in Trudeau’s Liberal caucus from 1972 through 1981, before being appointed to the Senate.

We are told that it’s inappropriate for the Governor-General, the titular Commander-in-Chief of Canada, to express support for those same Forces as they go about their missions with steadfast determination. Yet it is perfectly fine for a senator—and the deputy chair of the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs—to call a democratically elected foreign head of state an American stooge, and to make thinly-veiled assertions about the casual racism of the senior brass at NDHQ. And yes, I know about the parliamentary privileges of speech, including freedom from prosecution and slander litigation—still, Senator Stollery’s remarks are unconscionable.

Senator Stollery will serve until November of 2010, when he reaches his 75th birthday.